My love of Maple Leaf Gardens helps explain, in part, my hatred of the Leafs. A couple of years after school, I was a sportswriter for the National Post. I got assigned the first practice at the new ACC. It was timed for the lunch break for the hard hats, still finishing it.
I hated that the Leafs had left, but the ACC, for a new arena, wasn't bad. Anyway, I'm sitting there with these electricians, and pipe fitters, and joiners. They had tears in their eyes, watching their team take the ice they had made from seats they could never afford.
Then we hear someone hollering. From a luxury box. It was Steve Stavro, the Leafs owner, yelling at the workers to get out of the seats. They were covered in plastic, but I guess he was worried they would damage them somehow. The guys moved onto the concrete steps to watch.
The guys who built the place, being told to sit on the cement. It was as if the rooftop beer-drinking scene in Shawshank had been interrupted by some rich asshole. That's when I decided: I will hate this team forever. But the Gardens remain a palace to me. Perfection.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
